Hand washing help – Gangnam style!

There’s a fun new way for patients in Southern Derbyshire to keep their hands squeaky clean and prevent the spread of germs – Gangnam style.

A special musical video is now available on You Tube. It uses the smash hit single from 2011 to show how easy it is for people to wash their hands thoroughly and keep germs at bay.

Hand washing with soap is a do-it-yourself vaccine that can reduce diarrhoea by almost 50 per cent and respiratory infections by nearly 25 per cent, killing the 10 million viruses and one million bacteria found in a single gram of human faeces.

“Hand washing creates a barrier that keeps faecal viruses and bacteria at bay, preventing diarrhoea and breathing problems plus skin and eye infections. And the beauty of effective hand washing is that it’s really easy to learn.

“That’s why we’re hoping patients will go online and have fun watching the video and putting it into practice.

“The power is literally in everyone’s hands because washing our hands with soap is one of the most effective ways of creating healthier communities. And it takes around 15 seconds to wash your hands properly – about the length of time it takes to sing Happy Birthday twice through.”

To wash your hands thoroughly, follow these simple steps:

Wet hands with water

Apply enough soap to cover all hand surfaces

Rub hands palm to palm

Right palm over the other hand with interlaced fingers and vice versa

Palm to palm with fingers interlaced

Backs of fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked

Rotational rubbing of left thumb clasped in right palm and vice versa

Rotational rubbing, backwards and forwards with clasped fingers of right hand in left palm and vice versa